II. Course Learning Objectives

For example, here are the Learning Objectives for Segment #1

Segment #1 Learning Objectives
After studying this segment, students should be able to:

1. Explain how the language in Gen 18:3 indicates that one of the “men” who visited Abraham at the oaks of Mamre was God in visible form
2. Identify the significant aspects of the meal that Abraham prepared, served, and participated in, with the men who visited him
3. List the Hebrew wordplays in Gen 18-19 and describe their meaning and significance
4. State the reasons God provided when He revealed the coming destruction of Sodom to Abraham
5. Explain Abraham’s goal in interceding for Sodom, including why he ceased his intercession when he did
6. Summarize the consequences of Lot’s choosing to identify with Sodom
7. Compare the results of Abraham’s prayers with those of Lot and evaluate how these concepts apply to believers today
8. Describe what took place in the overthrow of the cities of the plain, including which cities were destroyed, what provoked their destruction, and what the Bible tells us about their future
9. List the nations that were born as a result of Lot’s choice to dwell in Sodom
10. Effectively use Genesis 18 in answering questions or objections from unsaved Jewish people about the deity of the Messiah Yeshua

IV. Optional Reading

For example of this part of the curriculum, here is the
Optional Reading for Segment #1:

Segment #1 Optional Reading

• Michael L. Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Theological Objections, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000). See especially Objection 3.2, “If you claim that Jesus is God then you are guilty of making God into a man. You are an idol worshiper!” p. 14ff).
• W. H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis: A Devotional Commentary. 1946. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1973 (esp. pp. 161-162).
• Bruce Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001 (pp. 276-77).
• Gordon Wenham, Genesis 15—50. Word Biblical Commentary series. Waco: Word Books, 1994.

VI. Spiritual Growth: Implications and Applications

Here is an example from Segment #1 of this Genesis Part Two Course:

Segment #1 Spiritual Growth: Implications and Applications Assignment*

Genesis chapter 18 can be used in witnessing to unsaved Jewish people about the deity of Messiah Yeshua, should that objection come up in discussions. Take some time and read through the following excerpt from Volume #2 of Michael L. Brown’s series, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Theological Objections. Genesis 18 is a key chapter in answering objection 3.2: “If you claim that Jesus is God then you are guilty of making God into a man. You are an idol worshiper!” (p.14ff). Please be aware that there will some questions on your Unit Exam from this reading below.

          “The question of the deity of Jesus—is he or is he not God—is one of the most important issues a traditional Jew and a Jewish follower of Jesus can possibly discuss. Emotions run high over this, and misunderstanding is the rule not the exception. The objections raised here are sometimes crude, such as, “Your god wore diapers. Our God sits enthroned in heaven.” At other times, they are more sophisticated, such as, “You say, ‘Jesus is God,’ the Bible says, ‘God is not a man’ (Num. 23:19), therefore, your faith is contrary to the Bible.” There is even a Rabbinic precedent for this argument that claims that Numbers 23:19 was uttered “because Balaam foresaw that a certain man would lead mortals astray by claiming to be God” (See Bilalik and Ravnitzky, Book of Legends, 519, #120). How can we respond to these objections in a rational and honest way?

          … At the end of Genesis 17, we read how Abraham and his entire household were circumcised in obedience to the command of the Lord. Genesis 18:1–2 says, “The Lord [Hebrew, YHWH] appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing near him” (NJPSV).

          According to the Talmud (b. Bava Mesia 86b), God himself was paying Abraham a personal sick call, checking on him after the ordeal of circumcision. Here is the expanded translation of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (the actual words of the Talmud are in bold). We read that Abraham went out:

and saw the Holy One, blessed be He, standing at the door of his tent, as the verse says, “And the Lord appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre.” This is what the verse is referring to when it says (Gen 18:3): “And he said, ‘O Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, do not, I pray you, pass by Your servant.’ ” In this verse Abraham was speaking to God Himself (and so addressed Him as Lord and referred to himself as His servant). When God saw that Abraham was busy tying and untying the bandages of his circumcision, He said to Himself, “It is not fitting that I stay here while Abraham is taking care of His wound.” He was about to remove His presence when Abraham pleaded with Him to stay a little longer. And this is also what the verse refers to when it says (Genesis 18:2): “And he raised his eyes and looked, and, behold, three men stood by him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them”
[Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition, vol. 6, Tractate Bava Metzia, Part VI (New York: Random House, 1992), 159.]

          Now, here we have a biblical text that indisputably says that the Lord—Hebrew, YHWH—appeared to Abraham, and the Talmud even relates in story form how Abraham actually saw “the Holy One, blessed be He,” addressing him as Lord. Yet, just a few words later, this very same biblical text says that Abraham looked up and saw three men, the Talmud giving the impression that God himself appeared to Abraham, only to be replaced by these men.

          Who were the three men? Some Christian teachers, quite naturally, have suggested that the three men represented the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but this cannot work for a number of reasons. First, it would mean that Abraham actually saw God the Father, something that would be contrary to Scripture; second, the Bible—Old Testament or New Testament—never pictures God as three separate people; third, as we will see, the context is against this trinitarian reading, since it is only one of the three “men” who is addressed as Lord.

          According to the Talmud, the three men were the angels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, each with his own special task. Michael came to give Sarah the good news that she would soon have a son, Raphael came to heal Abraham, and Gabriel went to overthrow the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (although the Talmud says that Michael went along with Gabriel so as to rescue Lot). But there are problems with this view too. First, the text nowhere says that these angels replaced or represented the Lord. Instead, the Bible says that the Lord appeared to Abraham, that he saw three men, and that he addressed one of them both as Lord (ʾadonai) and as YHWH. Second, the context indicates clearly that two of the men went on to Sodom—where they are identified as angels—and that Abraham stayed before YHWH, with whom he had an extended dialogue. To be faithful to the Scriptures, we must say that the Lord, with two angels, appeared to Abraham, and all three appeared as human beings who spoke, ate, and drank with Abraham and Sarah.

          Let’s watch the text unfold. In verse 3, we read that Abraham said, “ʾadonai, if it please you, do not go on past your servant.” According to the traditional Jewish punctuation, and as understood by the Talmud and many Rabbinic commentators, ʾadonai here means Lord, indicating that Abraham already understood who one of his guests was. Other traditional commentators suggest that this is unlikely, changing the vowels to read ʾadoni, “my lord,” as if Abraham simply addressed the apparent leader of the group without knowing who he was. Which view is correct? It really doesn’t matter if we keep reading. One of these “men” is YHWH himself!

          The text states that Abraham hurried to Sarah, told her to start cooking, and then ran to the herd to get a calf to slaughter. After preparing the meal, Abraham watched as the men ate:

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he replied, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will return to you next year, and your wife Sarah shall have a son!” Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years; Sarah had stopped having the periods of women. And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “Now that I am withered, am I to have enjoyment—with my husband so old?” Then the Lord [YHWH] said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?’ Is anything too wondrous for the Lord [YHWH]? I will return to you at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was frightened. But He replied, “You did laugh” (Genesis 18:9–15 NJPSV).

          There is only one honest way to read these verses. One of these three men was the Lord. Notice carefully: One of them promises to return next year so that Sarah will have a son; she laughs out loud when she hears this seemingly impossible promise; the Lord then addresses Abraham, asking him why his wife laughed and doubted his promise that he would graciously visit her the coming year; Sarah heard what he said, denying that she laughed; then he replied to her. There is absolutely no way around it. Abraham, Sarah, and the Lord were all there together.

          And, as if we needed any more proof, here is the clincher. Verse 16 states that “the men set out from there and looked down toward Sodom, Abraham walking with them to see them off” (NJPSV), explaining in the next verses that the Lord then filled Abraham in on what he was about to do. This brings us to verse 22, “The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord” (NJPSV), to whom he intercedes on behalf of Sodom through verse 32. So, the men went on to Sodom while the Lord remained with Abraham.

          Now brace yourself for the last verse of chapter 18 and the first verse of chapter 19: “When the Lord had finished speaking to Abraham, He departed; and Abraham returned to his place. The two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom” (NJPSV). The Scripture tells us that the Lord appeared to Abraham, then it says that Abraham saw three men by his tent, then it identifies one of those three as the Lord, who holds a conversation with Abraham and Sarah. The Bible then says that Abraham walked with the men as they went on their way to Sodom, that the Lord then informed Abraham of his intentions to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, that the men (i.e., the other two men) continued on to Sodom while Abraham stayed and talked with the Lord, and that when they were done, the Lord left and Abraham went home, and that two angels then arrived in Sodom. I’ll say it again: One of those three men was YHWH, the Lord.

          The awesome and exciting thing about this text is that it explicitly tells us that Abraham and Sarah talked with the Lord, that he appeared in human form to them, dusty feet and all (see Gen. 18:4), and that he even sat down and ate their food. Yet all the while he remained God in heaven!

          I wonder what our critics would do with this passage if it was not in the Hebrew Bible but rather in the New Testament Scriptures alone. They certainly would try to attack it as crass, asking us if God gained any weight when he ate and if he had to relieve himself when he was finished. After all, those are the kind of objections we hear when we talk about Jesus the Messiah being the Son of God in the flesh.

          The fact is, Genesis 18 clearly and indisputably teaches that God can come to earth in human form for a period of time if he so desires. And if he could do this for a few hours, in temporary human form, he could do this for a few years, in permanent human form. This is what theologians call the incarnation, God coming down to earth as a man in the person of his Son. And it is only when we recognize the Son—the exact representation of God, and yet God himself—that we can explain how God remained the Lord in heaven while also appearing as the Lord on earth in Genesis 18. Even if you study all the Rabbinic commentaries you want, you won’t find another explanation that works” (pp. 31-35).

[Michael L. Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Theological Objections, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), Objection 3.2]

VIII. Grading

X. Course Records

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